Recently, several of us winos were discussing our "old days," and the plonk
that we ingested in the name of wine, while discussing how folk eschew Rosé
wines, because of built-in prejudice against "pink wine." We ran down the
usual suspects, Mateus Rosé, Lancer's Rosé (I even did certain amounts of
Lancer's "white," in a green bottle, but that was more to keep my wife happy,
as I was starting to get into "real" reds about that time.), White Zinfandels,
and other "unmentionable" near-wines, and the like. As we recounted our battle
scars, I began to catalog the wine-like beverages that I'd brought home. At a
point in the evening, one hit me, that I had not thought about for years—many
years, Matilda Bay. This was a bag-in-a-box wine-blend. IIRC, it was actually
FROM Australia, though that may have just been a marketing ploy. This had to
be in the late 70's, or very early 80's, and Crocodile Dundee had not yet been
released, but Koala's were hitting the US market for Quantas Airline, as I
remember. These were pre-Outback Steakhouse Days. Anyway, back to the Matilda
Bay. It came in a brightly colored box, almost "Miami Vice" in scheme. I do
not recall the US importer, nor any data, regarding the production of the "
wine." It was probably something like "fruit-essence, water, and ethanol... "
Is there anyone in AWF, who remembers this wine? Trying to de-construct my
memories of the beverage in that box, I'd give a big nod to Muscat, Viognier,
and who-knows what white wine base, Chard? SB? Sémillon? It had a very floral
nose (though I wasn't much into "smelling" my wine, back then), a very
slightly sweet aspect, and actually a couple of layers of flavor. I recall the
flowers, a bit of citrus, some minerals.

Now my questions: does anyone else recall this wine? Was it, in fact, a
product from OZ? Was it just marketed to the US market? Does anyone recall/
know the blend of grapes?

Doing the mental re-construct years after the last taste, I'd liken it to
Caymus Conundrum a few vintages ago, but lighter, with fewer nuances.

Thanks,
Hunt

Hunt wrote:
At a
point in the evening, one hit me, that I had not thought about for years-many
years, Matilda Bay. This was a bag-in-a-box wine-blend. IIRC, it was actually
FROM Australia, though that may have just been a marketing ploy. This had to
be in the late 70's, or very early 80's, and Crocodile Dundee had not yet been
released, but Koala's were hitting the US market for Quantas Airline, as I
remember.

Now my questions: does anyone else recall this wine? Was it, in fact, a
product from OZ? Was it just marketed to the US market? Does anyone recall/
know the blend of grapes?

I never had Matilda Bay, but I think I remember mention of it many
years ago. I finally found a thread about old wine coolers on Google.
There was one entry about Matilda Bay.

"But, when it comes to 80's wine coolers, there's really only two words
- Matilda Bay. It was put out by Miller, there was a yellow label and a
purple label. Each label was a different flavor, but I don't remember;
I think one might have been 'tropical' or something like that. It went
down much easier than the fruit/berry flavors."

Also Matilda Bay is a brewery in Australia that makes several beers
that seem to have a considerable following.

In article .com, spamtrap1
@cwdjr.info says...


Hunt wrote:
At a
point in the evening, one hit me, that I had not thought about for years-
many
years, Matilda Bay. This was a bag-in-a-box wine-blend. IIRC, it was
actually
FROM Australia, though that may have just been a marketing ploy. This had
to
be in the late 70's, or very early 80's, and Crocodile Dundee had not yet
been
released, but Koala's were hitting the US market for Quantas Airline, as I
remember.

Now my questions: does anyone else recall this wine? Was it, in fact, a
product from OZ? Was it just marketed to the US market? Does anyone recall/
know the blend of grapes?

I never had Matilda Bay, but I think I remember mention of it many
years ago. I finally found a thread about old wine coolers on Google.
There was one entry about Matilda Bay.

"But, when it comes to 80's wine coolers, there's really only two words
- Matilda Bay. It was put out by Miller, there was a yellow label and a
purple label. Each label was a different flavor, but I don't remember;
I think one might have been 'tropical' or something like that. It went
down much easier than the fruit/berry flavors."

Also Matilda Bay is a brewery in Australia that makes several beers
that seem to have a considerable following.

Thanks. Obviously, I need to get a copy of Boolean for Dummies, as I turned
up no mention of this wine. Though it was a b-n-b wine, it predated the wine-
cooler craze, at least in the US. For its retail run, or my purchases of it,
it was only a b-n-b, but could have been reformulated into a cooler later in
its lifespan. As I recall it, the body was not sufficient to add any fizzy
water, but they could have held the "fruit juice" spigot open a bit longer,
and maybe added a crushed gardenia, or two to keep the "floral" aspect. Hm-m-
m, I wish I had bothered to read the fine print, as we had several boxes over
the years. Maybe a wine-like product from the OZ brewery?

Hunt

I ran into several other references to Matilda Bay. I will just post
some random quotes from them below:

"Oh yeah! I also remember Matilda Bay which you could get in a little
box. We used to get this or the Sun Country 2-liter and fill up our
7-eleven cups. So sneaky.

AP Published: September 8, 1989
LEAD: The Miller Brewing Company said it would stop production of its
Matilda Bay wine cooler in early November because of poor sales.

Matilda Bay Wine Coolers
Remember when wine coolers were all the rage? These were supposedly
Australian wine coolers with bizarre commercials. The characters had
bad accents and did wacky things.

Some coolers, such as Matilda Bay, come in four-packs, a tactic that
not only makes them look more like a soda, but also ensures that people
will buy the product in quantity.

Matilda bay wine cooler mirror with palm trees. The mirror measures
approximately 16 inches wide by 19 inches high, with a plastic frame.

Through college, my beverage of choice was wine coolers - Bartles and
Jaymes (which now I believe is utterly undrinkable) and the favorite
Matilda Bay (Australian accent: "Comes in a box, so it's easy to pour!"
- I also have a neon signn with lovely rasta colors).

Well, the unopened case (of four one-gallon boxes) of Matilda Bay wine
cooler I bought back in 1989 are still good. Does anybody remember OK
Soda or Matilda Bay? Fond memories?

do you remember a wine cooler called Matilda Bay? you could buy it in
bottles or in a little package that had a spout. they quit making it in
the late 80's. it didn't taste like alcohol at all, and the girls would
get pretty farked up on it pretty damn quick. if any of you guys
remember this stuff, and miss the taste of a "matilda kiss", then try
this stuff. it's stronger than matilda bay, but it tastes exactly like
it.

You are bidding on a Matilda Bay wine cooler plastic lined bottle cap,
from Miller Brewing Co, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This one is the rarest
variation of Matilda Bay.

matilda bay wine coolers, noncarbonated so you can chug 'em faster
unfortunately they've been out of business since the early 90s, so i
make do with strawberry-kiwi-everclear daquiris."

In article om, spamtrap1
@cwdjr.info says...

I ran into several other references to Matilda Bay. I will just post
some random quotes from them below:

"Oh yeah! I also remember Matilda Bay which you could get in a little
box. We used to get this or the Sun Country 2-liter and fill up our
7-eleven cups. So sneaky.

AP Published: September 8, 1989
LEAD: The Miller Brewing Company said it would stop production of its
Matilda Bay wine cooler in early November because of poor sales.

Matilda Bay Wine Coolers
Remember when wine coolers were all the rage? These were supposedly
Australian wine coolers with bizarre commercials. The characters had
bad accents and did wacky things.

Some coolers, such as Matilda Bay, come in four-packs, a tactic that
not only makes them look more like a soda, but also ensures that people
will buy the product in quantity.

Matilda bay wine cooler mirror with palm trees. The mirror measures
approximately 16 inches wide by 19 inches high, with a plastic frame.

Through college, my beverage of choice was wine coolers - Bartles and
Jaymes (which now I believe is utterly undrinkable) and the favorite
Matilda Bay (Australian accent: "Comes in a box, so it's easy to pour!"
- I also have a neon signn with lovely rasta colors).

Well, the unopened case (of four one-gallon boxes) of Matilda Bay wine
cooler I bought back in 1989 are still good. Does anybody remember OK
Soda or Matilda Bay? Fond memories?

do you remember a wine cooler called Matilda Bay? you could buy it in
bottles or in a little package that had a spout. they quit making it in
the late 80's. it didn't taste like alcohol at all, and the girls would
get pretty farked up on it pretty damn quick. if any of you guys
remember this stuff, and miss the taste of a "matilda kiss", then try
this stuff. it's stronger than matilda bay, but it tastes exactly like
it.

You are bidding on a Matilda Bay wine cooler plastic lined bottle cap,
from Miller Brewing Co, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This one is the rarest
variation of Matilda Bay.

matilda bay wine coolers, noncarbonated so you can chug 'em faster
unfortunately they've been out of business since the early 90s, so i
make do with strawberry-kiwi-everclear daquiris."

WOW, the mother lode! I'm guessing that our market, New Orleans, got the b-n-b
version, and maybe much sooner than other parts of the US. Since we left there
for Denver in 1981, I suppose that the product packaging was changed over
time, and I never saw the later incarnations. I recall when the "coolers" were
the rage, but I'd place that in the mid-eighties. By then, the boxed version
(hm-m-m sounds like a compilation of Pink Floyd CDs... ) was probably long
gone. The boxed wines from Franzia, et al made it big in the Denver market by
the mid-eighties also. I still recall arriving at a "wine party" with a
few btls. of Ch Gloria under my arm, only to discover the hostesse's counter
covered with boxes of wine. Seems that the Gloria was gone in the blink of an
eye, and boxes were all that were left! This was when I decided that I would
always squirrel-away a btl. for MY private consumption, at these events.

Thanks for the tidbits on Matilda Bay - Miller Brewing huh?

Hunt